Second Chance, Second Pathway
by Goldtiger
Summary: When you're faced with a difficult choice, what can you do? Please R&R!


**A/N So I was working on my main and often ignored series, when I suddenly got a huge idea...for a different story. Seriously, it keeps bugging me, so I guess I'll have to get that out of the way first (andtheexamsinaweekwhat?). I present to you, a new short story. Yeah. **

**Disclaimer: The characters used in this amateur fanfic do not belong to me. **

Radiant Garden. The happiest place on earth. A city full of, you guessed it, vegetation native to the land. Flowers, whether they be perennial flowers, or plants suited for dryer places, somehow are able to live here. It is as if the soil in the garden beds hold a mysterious and magical power. There is a moderate level of rainfall annually, but for the most partRadiant Garden often sees clear skies. Year after year this city is voted as the best city in the world. The percentage of content citizens is an astonishing ninety-eight percent. Although much, much more can be said of this wondrous city and its joyous inhabitants, this is not meant to be happy tale full of sunshine. Rather, we shall focus on the remaining two percent, and the lives that these people live, or to be more accurate, the life that a boy lived.

This is but one of those stories...

_Second Chance, Second Pathway_

_**May 3, 3:20 PM**_

A teenaged boy was walking down the sidewalk in a quite street. He wore the mandatory school uniform: A blue blazer jacket worn over the usual white dress shirt and tie. The shirt was rumpled, but was tucked in neatly into his grey slacks. His black shoes had a bent in frame, but its deep shade of black gave people the impression that they were still brand new. The boy had spiky brown hair, unbecoming of a student, but unlike that of a delinquent's hairstyle. He had a pair of blue eyes that were roofed by long eyebrows slanted downward in a permanent scowl. He had big ears that were out of proportion, but a hand some face to redeem for its physical flaw. This boy was reading one of Xehanort's famous short stories satirizing inhumane experimentation for the sake of progress, and not once did he look up to check his surroundings, nor did he pay attention to the honking noises that were steadily increasing in volume.

However, there was a loud scream, and the boy tore his eyes away from the book, looking around and feeling annoyed. He was just about to reach the climax of the story, but there just had to be interruptions.

The last thing he saw was a person about a hundred meters away madly waving their arms with a bookbag in one hand, and the last thing he felt was a sudden blow to the entire back of his body. Then, darkness.

The boy did not know when he awoke from unconsciousness, since it still remained dark. He felt no sensation when he tried moving his arms and legs. There was no solid ground under him, yet he couldn't feel the presence of gravity. Nothing registered.

The boy tried moving his hands right in front of his face, but he could not detect any movement. He continued in his attempt to regain his senses when a voice broke through the silence, startling the teen. The voice was emotionless and unidentifiable. The gender of the speaker could not be discerned, nor could the direction from where the voice was being projected be found. It was a hollow voice, a fitting voice to match the boy's surroundings. Although hollow, it somehow was able to command the attention of others.

"Do you understand where you are?" The voice asked in a demanding tone.

"Who...who are you?" The boy asked back cautiously.

"That's none of your concern. Now, let me ask you again. Do you understand where you are, and what has just happened to you?"

"...All I can remember is reading my book, then hearing a loud scream, and then nothing. Why? Were you the one that jumped me? Show your face!"

The voice laughed, but it was a humorless laugh that could have sent chills down the boy's spine. Unfortunately, he still could not feel anything. Let alone see him.

"Sora..." The voice started.

"How do you know my name?" Sora asked curiously, squinting his eyes to see through the veil of darkness.

"I know everything there is to know about you. Your life has been, without a doubt, a miserable life. A miserable beginning...and now a miserable ending."

"...What! What do you mean by ending?"

There was a pause, and Sora could almost feel the uncertainty emanating from the words that the voice spoke.

"...My son, it has ended...you, have ended."

"...Wh..."

It was impossible. Sora vividly remembered the sounds of the songbirds in the trees, the distant blaring noises from downtown, the loud ringing of the school bell, signalling the beginning and ending of classes.

"What caused your death was a truck. The driver didn't notice you until it was too late. He tried to get your attention when he slammed on the brakes, but to no avail."

"You mean...I'm dead?" Sora asked, his voice wavering near the end. His head spun, and the weight of reality came crashing down upon him.

"...Yes. Your short and horrible life in that city is over. Get ready for the afterlife."

"I...I..that's impossible. If I'm dead, then where am I now?"

"What's the point in asking? Knowing the answer will no change anything."

"No...No! This can't be happening! I still have things to do and goals to achieve!"

"You're not the first one to whine like a spoiled child."

"I don't want to die! Not now!" Sora began to go into a state of panic. He clutched his head with both hands and tore at his hair, but whether or not he was even doing that was unknown to him.

The voice let out an audible sigh, and hardened his already intimidating tone.

"Calm down. Now."

An eerie calmness swept through the boy. The urge to hyperventilate slowly disappeared, and his breathing returned to normal.

"It's truly pathetic to die like that, isn't it? To be minding your own business one second, then BOOM! You're dead the next. Especially in your case."

"My case?"

"See for yourself."

Without warning, a burst of light flashed and glimmered in the dark. In that area of luminescence, Sora saw a monitor about his height. He could feel gravity slowly taking effect and his feet touching solid ground. Slowly, the boy walked towards the pitch-black monitor, eyeing his surroundings warily.

Sora stared at it, and touched the screen with his fingers. The monitor flickered to life, and the screen displayed a video recording of an empty street. Sora recognized it at once. It was the street he was crossing just before he was hit by a truck. Although he was reading the book at that time, the boy had been taking this route back home for three years. There was no sign of movement, and he was nowhere to be seen on the sidewalk.

"Since the monitor is just a simulation device that foretells the various fates of humans, this is not a replay. Rather, this is what would have happened if you had not ignored the warning for so long."

The scene suddenly cut to Sora walking across the street. Although there was no audio, the boy saw his parallel self look up, whirl his head around, and then quickly dive out of the way, crashing onto the curb. The instant virtual Sora landed on the ground, a truck whizzed down the street at break-neck speed, colliding into a lamppost. The video stopped, and the screen reverted back to its original shade of black.

"Is this a joke?"

"What is?" The voice queried.

"How is my case any more pathetic? So I live. Are you trying to make me feel bad?"

"Idiot. You wouldn't know the outcome since you didn't experience it."

"...What? Then why didn't you show it to me?"

"No reason. I just want you to know that you really have died. This is no joke." The voice paused to let Sora sink it in. Then, reassured that the boy was finally coming to terms with bitter reality, it continued.

"You see, if this was the outcome, the truck driver would be horrified at nearly killing someone. That person knew that you could press charges, so the driver would have given a lottery ticket he had just bought. Having no money on him, that was all he could give you. Although angry, you managed to accept his bribe, and you scanned it."

"...No way...no effing way..."

"That ticket turned out to be the winning ticket."

"You mean, I...?"

"Yes, on that day, you could have won 95 million dollars."

The surrealism of the situation was extraordinary. Right now, he was in the afterlife with some voice telling him that he could have had a chance at becoming rich. His understanding of reality no longer had any relativity. Sora thought back to the saying "Heaven or Hell", but seeing as where he was at, it wasn't a good time to bring it up.

The voice adapted a tone of annoyance. "Normally, you would be going straight to the afterlife like any other human being. However, you're an exception."

"Exception? Explain."

"Sora, you're a bit a bookworm, am I right? You read not only novels and comics, but even educational books that go beyond the scope of a normal teenager."

"Since you know, why ask?"

"It's rhetorical, boy, now shut up so I can continue with my obligatory explanation of the plot."

"You're breaking the-"

"I'm a deity. I'm allowed to."

"_You think you're so high and mighty..." _thought Sora to himself.

"I heard that. Anyways, about you. I only told you about your alternate future not because I care about whether or not you care to know, but because I care about that future. As I said, you've read lots of books on various subjects, one of the more prominent ones being finances."

"Go on..."

"You're familiar with the stock market, and you suddenly have 95 million dollars. What do you think happens?"

Sora's mouth formed into a giant 'O', and he slapped his face with his palm.

"Exactly. With your resources and your knowledge, you somehow manage to rack up a fortune even greater. Once you graduate, you start your own company, a company that would have become one of the most powerful corporations in the world."

"So you just wanted me to become rich and famous."

"If it were like that, the nice guys would be rich and the evil-hearted would be broke."

"Mind telling me what your goal is then!" Sora badgered, now extremely curious to know the answer.

"Mind shutting the hell up so I can tell you?"

The voice seemed to carry a bit more emotion. Sora wondered just what was with this so-called deity that acted like a robot one moment, then a human another.

"Your company is responsible for developing a miracle drug. This drug has the ability to negate any detrimental effect on the body. Your alternate self had created the master drug, able to cure any ailment and disease. With your discovery, you saved not just millions, but billions of lives. You, and only you, eliminated the existence of external danger. That is, people lost their fear of death."

"Wouldn't something that valuable be highly expensive? Also, even if it a miracle drug existed, it still wouldn't be able to save others from unfortunate disasters."

"Your future self didn't really care about money at that time. Even if you sold the medicine at a dollar a pill, you still would've gained profit due to the money you got from manufacturing other products."

"Other products? Like what?"

"Think of Wal-Mart."

"So I forced under-paid employees to sell a multitude of cheap products. Wouldn't I just be ruining the world economy?"

"I said THINK of it. I didn't say that you'd take over that company. Not only will you create that miracle drug, but you'll also be able to create many other inventions that eventually lead to a perfect world."

"You, Sora, are only the beginning. In a world where the appearance of heroes are slowly dwindling, you were the world's last hope and redemption. But because you just had to ignore fate and kill yourself like an idiot, your race is screwed."

"I call bull! There is no way that the world is going to end because of me! Won't the world just move on like it always does?"

"Maybe you haven't noticed, but the world has always been moving forward...forward into destruction. BECAUSE OF YOU, EVERYONE WILL DIE!" The voice suddenly shouted, causing Sora to stagger backwards.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT! I'M DEAD, RIGHT!" Sora shouted back. He was frustrated at the turn of events. Finding out about your apparent death, the missed chance at becoming rich, and the fact that you would have become a savior to the human race all in one day is not what he was expecting.

"...And that's why I said you're an exception." The voice replied, after a moment of silence. Before Sora could interject, the voice continued.

"Since I created this world, I don't want to see it end. Not just yet. You, Sora, are the key to salvation, and I will not let you end your life like this. With my powers, I will bring you back to Radiant Gardens."

Sora was flabbergasted. "You're gonna bring me back to life...?"

"No, I'm bringing you back in time, to a time before the incident. Two days, to be exact."

"...Alright."

"However, death is not merciful nor is it sympathetic. If one soul were to be brought back, another must be returned."

That last sentence sent a chill down Sora's spine. His skin paled, and his eyes widened.

"You don't mean..."

"Yes. Within the two days leading up to the truck incident, you must find a person who will sacrifice themselves for you. Of course, you can't tell them about anything beyond the physical world."

"I'm not a killer!"

"Tough luck. It's either one life or the lives of every single human on the planet. Now go. I'm tired of looking at you."

"Looking? Where are you! SHOW YOURSELF!" Sora screamed desperately. Suddenly, the ground he was standing on gave way, and he spiralled into an abyss of nothingness. Freaked out beyond imagination, the only thing he could do in this turmoil was scream.

"AUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

**A/N Originally a one-shot, but I can't believe it took THIS LONG TO DO THE PROLOGUE. So much procrast-er, reasonable delays. I'm also working on other things, so please bear with me. Tell me if this is an interesting platform on which I can create a new story. So yeah, you know what to do. R&R! . **


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